Floor and ceiling construction.



G. RBIER.

FLOOR AND CEILING GONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6,1912.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

WITNESSES y/%- mm ATTORNEYS A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES REIER, OF-NEWQ YoRK, Y., AssIGnoR rro BUILDING IMPROVEMENT (10., on NEW YoRK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

rtooR Ann CEILING coNs'rRUcrIoN.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

Application filed February 6, 1912. Serial No. 675,795.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES REIER, a c1t1- zen of the United States, and resident of the borough of. the Bronx, city, county, and

State of New York, have invented certain new and .usefulImprovements in Floor and Ceiling Construction,- of which, the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates tofloor and ceiling constructions and more particularly to these commonly known as reinforced concrete floors or ceilings in which a number of open ended units or, blocks are incorporated in rows in such a manner as to form parallel channels for the accommodation of the usual reinforcing rods.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and eflicient units [or blocks which.

may be readily incorporated in the construction in the desired correlation to each other Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which-'- Figure '1 is an end elevation of proved unit or block; Fig. 2' 1s a plan view thereof Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a portion of a floor or ceiling constructed according to my invention; Fig. 4 a plan vlew thereot and Fig. 5 is an end view of a-slightly difi'erent form of unit or block.

.which the top 5. extends and is preferably, 6

though not necessarily, rovided at its fr edge ,with a flange 9 as s own in Figs. 1 and .3. The units or blocksmay be made-of any suitable material such' as wire-screeningor mesh, metal, wood, concrete or the like, terra cotta-qrin fact any other material suitable for the intended purposes. Thus if'the material used is capable of manlpulatlon' t may be bent or shaped so as to form the elements 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, or these elements .may be separate parts secured together in any sultable manner to form an integral structure of the desired shape, or said units or blocks may be molded or otherwise constructed as may be found convenient.

In constructing a floor and ceiling accordmg to the present invention the blocks or units are first set up on the usual centering or scaffold for instance "in the following manner: The first unit or block isplaced upon the scaffold with its side 7 in engagement for instance with one of theside walls of the building and its one 0 en end ada'cent to the one end wall t ereof after which the second unit- ,is similarly set valongsideof the first and so that the member of the first block extends beneath the side 7 of the second block and the flange 9 of said first block is in engagement with the inner surface of, the side 6 of the second block. Similarly the third block isset up alongside of. the second block and so on until finally the flange 9 of the last block in this rowis adjacent to the opposite side wall of the buildin Iii-order to complete this row a substantially U-shaped unit coma posed of a top 5* and sides 6 and 7 'may be :placed so that the free edge of its side 7' rests on the member 8 of the last block of this .row' and its side 6 in engagement with the flange 9 of said last block asclearly shown in Fig. 3. A similar U-shaped unit may be .located-in the first block of the row in such a manner that the sides 6 and 7'? extend upwardly in engagement with the sides 6 and -7 and the top .5 bridges the space therebetween and nowb'ecomes the bottom of the first block. The next row of units is now similarly set up with the one open end of each block body engaging and alining with [the one .open end of each block body of the first row and so on until finally the neces- ;sary number ofrows have been set up to cover the areaof the intended floor or ceiling. In this condition it will be seen that nels 10 extending substantially parallel to each other asclearly shown in Fig. 4. The usual reinforcing rods 11 are now placed in the channels 10 so as to extend lengthwise thereof. and in the described construction with their ends properly supported inthe opposite end walls of the building in the usual manner, which end walls also serve to close the one open endof each unit in the first and last row. Concrete or other coalescent material 12 is now introduced into the channels 10 so as to surround the rods 11 and completely fill said channels and in some cases to also cover the tops 5 and 5 of the units. If the units are constructed of wire mesh some of this coalescent material will work its way into the interstices of the sides 6, 6 and flanges 9 and when set or hardened will form keys or projections to prevent separation of the units and interlock them at these points. After the coalescent material has set the centering may be removed thus leavingaperfect monolithic floor or ceiling in which the lower or exposed surfaces of the members 8, and 5 if used, serve as supports forplaster or any other material adapted to comprise the finished ceiling. In the finished structure the coalescent material in the dhannels 10 form load sustainin girders of great strength while the llIlltS themselves act as fillers 'thus reducing the dead weight of the floor oi ceiling and adding to its strength while at the same time providing air spaces between the upper and lower surfaces of the structure.

In order to save coalescent material and to secure a more perfect arch construction the tops 5 or 5 may be made to incline upwardly toward the center and the sides 6 and 7 may converge downwardly toward each other in the finished structure as shown in Fig. 5. This arch construction iscapawhich case the free edge of each member 8 will simply abut against the inner surface of each side 6 or 6 to space the sides 6, 6 and 7 of ad acent blocks apart.

If the units or blocks are made of a material capable of being manipulated, they may be shipped in flat sheets of the desired dimensions and shaped to the desired form just prior to use, so that in this case a maximum number of units may be shipped in a minimum amount of space. It will readily be seen that my improved blocks or units may be cheaply and quickly manufacsisting only of the side 6 and member 8 thus produced. This unit may be set on the center.- ing with the side 6 spaced from the wall of the building in which-case the space between the wall and side 6 .would be filled with coalescent material or the said unit might be positioned with the side 6 in engagement with thewall of the building.

In order to reduce the amount of temporary scaifoldingor centering needed constructing the fioor or ceiling to a mini mum, wire loops 11 may be passed about the reinforcing rods 11 at intervals and passed through the members 8 so that said members will be suspended from said bars at the points where the loops l1 are located. These loops. will prevent the members 8 from sagging as the coalescent material is introduced and during the setting of said material in the same way as does the temporary scaffolding. In other words if the loops are not used, it is necessary to support the members 8 from below at 'all points by means of centering while if the loops are used a great part of this centering may be omitted as will be readily apparent.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim-:

Y 1. A block or unit comprising a top wall, side walls depending from said top wall at opposite edges thereof to form therewith an inverted U-shaped element and a bottom forming member extending outwardly from one of said side walls, the distance between said side wall and the free edge of said bottomforming member bein greater than the distance between the two side walls.

2. A block or unit comprising a top wall,

side walls depending from said top wall at opposite edges thereof to form therewith an inverted U-shaped element, a bottom forming member extending outwardly from one of said side walls and a flange projecting upwardly from said bottom forming mem her at the free edge thereof, the distance between said flange and' the one side wall be ing greater than the distance between the two side walls.

'3. In a fioor or ceiling construction, a plurality of units comprising an inverted substantially U-shaped body having open ends and being open at the bottom, said units being arranged adjacent to each other and each having a portion extending beneath the inverted U-shaped body of an adjacent unit across the axis thereof to form a bottom for said adjacent inverted U-shaped body and a coalescent material located between said blocks.

4. In a floor or ceiling construction,-a plurality of units havingbodies open at the bottom and arranged adjacent to each other, said units having portions adapted to form opposite walls of a channel and another;

laterally extending portion adapted to extend beneath the body of an adjacent unitacross the axis thereof to form a bottom for said body and also to form the bottom of said channel and a coalescent material in said channel.

5. In a floor or ceiling construction, a ,plurality' of units, arranged adjacent to each other and having top walls and side walls depending therefrom, each unit having a bottom wall extending beneath the one side wall of an adjacent unit into engagement with the opposite side wall thereof to form the bottom of said adjacent unit and to space portions of adjacent blocks to form the opposite walls of a channel, said bottom wall itself forming the bottom of said channel and a coalescent material in said channel.

6. In a floor or ceiling construction, a plurality of units arranged adjacent to each other and havin top walls and side walls depending there rom, each unit having a and to itself form a bottom for said channel, a reinforcing rod extending lengthwise of said channel and a coalescent material insaid channel covering said reinforcing rod.

7. In a floor or ceiling construction, a plurality of units having bodies open at the ends and bottom, said units being arranged in adjacent rows with their open ends in engagement, a projecting portion on each unit extending beneath, and across the bottom of the body of an adjacent unit to close and form a bottom for the same and to space portions of adjacent units apart to form parallel and continuous channels, rein-' forcing rods extending lengthwise of said channels and a coalescent material in said channels'covering said reinforcing rods.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES REIER.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. KEHLENBECK, M. H. Looxwoon. 

